Contractors must register to do public works projects at schools by March 1st 2015

SB 854 of 2013/2014 changes the landscape of public works projects for school districts in the State of California. As of July 1, 2014 new rules and registration processes took effect. The major changes comes on March 1st, 2015 when contractors can no longer bid on projects unless they are registered with the State. And as of April 1st, 2015 no contractor may work on a public works project unless they are registered with the DIR.

There has been some confusion as to whether the registration requirement applies to contractors during emergency services – such as abatement of mold or demolition after a fire loss. I spoke with the Bakersfield office of the DIR and then confirmed that the registration requirement does apply. The only exception may be for “maintenance” and abatement and demolition are certainly not maintenance they told me. The DIR suggested that contracts register to ensure they are in compliance for the portions of the jobs/projects that do fall under non-maintenance work.

Schools should make sure that they inform their current list of contractors to ensure that projects continue without delay. In addition, schools should develop a new process to ensure that those contractors who bid are indeed registered with the DIR/State. For more information, check out http://www.dir.ca.gov/Public-Works/PublicWorks.html